The findings, which explore job market data from December 2020 and compare this with the previous month and the same period in 2019, also finds that the number of job postings in the UK remains 10.3% lower than in December last year.
Lee Biggins, CEO and founder, CV-Library comments:
“These figures highlight that the next few months will not be plain sailing for the UK economy.
“While a decrease in vacancies is always expected over the festive season, this significant drop proves that businesses have once again been forced to put their hiring plans on hold, while they navigate these turbulent waters.”
Surprisingly, the distribution sector saw the largest decrease in job opportunities month-on-month, falling by a massive 56.3%. However, the number of vacancies was still 18.6% higher than during the same period last year. It seems as though the design industry and catering sector are among the worst hit industries, as vacancies remain a whopping 63.1% and 56.8% lower year-on-year, respectively.
What’s more, while the number of applications across the UK has dropped by 23.2% month-on-month and 2.1% year-on-year, there is still a huge disparity between the number of job opportunities and applications. This has led to a 2.9% increase in the number of applications per vacancy, month-on-month and a 9.2% increase, year-on-year.
Biggins continues:
“These statistics prove that it was difficult to find a new role before the onset of yet another national lockdown and it’s only going to get tougher. However, our previous experience of these restrictions proves that the UK job market can bounce back and we’re hopeful that we will see this once lockdown is lifted.
“In the meantime, if you’re looking for a new role this year, be prepared to come up against some stiff competition. This means you need to fine tune your CV and cover letter, brush up on your interview skills and make sure that you’re fully prepared for whatever a potential employer may throw at you. For advice on how to prepare, head to the CV-Library Career Advice page.”
